NOVEL JAZZ SEPTET CELEBRATES THE MUSIC OF DUKE ELLINGTON AND BILLY STRAYHORN!

The Castine Arts Association announces that the Novel Jazz Septet will be in performance at the Trinitarian Congregational Church of Castine, ME on Wednesday 6 August, 2025 at 7PM. They will be celebrating Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn, two pillars of the jazz world. This season they are also celebrating Strayhorn’s 110th anniversary as well as the band’s 21st year sharing the music of these jazz icons around New England. The mission of the Novel Jazz Septet is to keep the music of Ellington and Strayhorn “alive and swinging.” Between them, Duke and Strays wrote several thousand compositions over their musical careers, two percent of which represent the well-known standards and 98% of which represent rarely heard gems. The Septet will perform standard tunes from the Ellington/Strayhorn repertoire plus newly-arranged compositions that they have unearthed from original recordings, as well as manuscripts from the Ellington Archives of the Smithsonian Museum of American History and the Strayhorn Collection at the Library of Congress, both in Washington D.C. Novel Jazz members have dusted these pieces off, rearranged them for the septet, and given them a 21st century sound, all of their own. Suggested donations for this event are $15/person at the door.

For more information, you can email info@castinearts.org, call Sam at 207-326-9583 or navigate your browser to https://www.castinearts.org/. To find out more about the band, navigate your browser to https://www.mainejazz.net/. The Trinitarian Congregational Church is located at 68 Main Street, Castine, ME. Remember, “It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing! So, bop-on over to Trinitarian Congregational Church on the 6 August for some classic jazz by Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn!